What Are Friends For?
by Praeludium
Summary: Amber and Desmond aren't usually seen together, unless they're grouped up for school. They just have too little in common; or so it seems. But, being different from each other doesn't necessarily mean "can't be good friends." Little by little, they learn more about each other and find themselves becoming an unlikely pair of best friends. (Told in short snippets and story arcs)
1. Make a Wish (part 1)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.**

 **AN: This is an episodical fic, meaning it won't be just one large plot but snippets (and maybe occasionally a moderate-length story arc) that work toward a common topic and theme: Amber, Desmond, and friendship. Each chapter might have varying lengths. Read and review please :)**

* * *

Make a Wish (Part 1)

Desmond and Amber are friends—at least, they say they are. They certainly don't hang out that much—except maybe when there's a school project and when Sofia or James (or both) is involved. Amber doesn't really invite him to hang out—although, she does "invite" him to help with things, such as when they're in the same group for a project. Desmond also doesn't just go up to Amber and ask, "Hey, Amber. Do you want to come over to play?" Yet, both still consider each other as friends. But, some do say that a good friend will stay a friend even without much contact; whether Amber and Desmond fit this is entirely up to one's opinion.

Honestly, Desmond just doesn't seem to be "good with Amber"—if that made sense. Sometimes, he feels really uncomfortable when he's with her. She can be a bit frightening to him. Not that Amber isn't nice, he actually thinks Amber is very likable, except for the times he finds her frightening. They're just very different people is what Desmond thinks; they don't even seem to have a lot in common.

There was a time, however, that he tried to be more like "regular friends" with Amber. He figured that what kind of a friend is he of he gets scared of his own friend. He occasionally thought about going beyond a "Hi" whenever they pass by each other—he didn't follow through though, Amber's regal air can be very intimidating to some people. He gave up trying to get closer over time. Their status quo worked just fine—why fix it? He figured that not all friendships are alike. They were just weird friends (or weirdly friends).

* * *

Desmond's castle has a huge library, which was why despite being labelled as a bookworm, he only ever visits Royal Prep's library a handful of times a year. Today was one of those times—there was a book he needed for a written report paper but wasn't in his family's collection _._

Desmond beelined to the astronomy section, avoiding making eye contact with Ruben, the (relatively) new school librarian. Ruben was a stout little fellow. He came from a small mining village on the mountains—he was a mountain dwarf. His rugged and menacing look stems from his days in hard manual labor doing mining. but his personality couldn't be farther from his looks. He was a softy and loved books. Most of the kids in school knew this since he's been working at Royal Prep for a few months; unfortunately, he and Desmond had a rocky first meeting. Desmond had been anxious around him ever since; and, at the moment, the astronomy section being nearest the librarian's desk isn't helping Desmond.

Amber walked into the library as Desmond was skimming through the shelves finding his book.  
"Back again today, eh, Princess Amber? At tha' rate yer goin' we'll be out of books for you ta read," joked Ruben.

Amber put down a stack of books on Ruben's desk. The 3, two-inch-thick books slamming against the tabletop echoed throughout the silent library. "Hello, Ruben. I'd like to return these."

Ruben took the books and started scribbling on some papers.

"Do you have anything new on the shelves?" asked Amber.

"Sorry, Princess. Only books tha's always been sittin' there," replied Ruben.

Desmond couldn't help but overhear the exchange—he didn't realize he was already staring.

"Ye got a problem, little boy?" asked Ruben sternly.

Desmond suppressed the urge to jump in surprise. He gulped, "N-no, sir!"

"Ruben! Be nice," interfered Amber, "he's a friend of mine."

Ruben looked Amber in the eyes and glared back at Desmond before going back to scribbling on the library forms. "Hurrmph."

Amber walked towards the astronomy section after getting her borrower's card back from Ruben.

"Come, Desmond," said Amber as she guided Desmond to a different set of shelves out of eyeshot from the librarian's desk.

"Wow, he really doesn't like you," commented Amber as she glided her fingers over the books on the shelves.

"I kind of figured," replied Desmond.

This was new. Aside from the fact that Amber and he getting to talk was a bit uncommon, two of them talking about something that didn't involve schoolwork, Sofia, or James, was a first.

A few seconds passed; Desmond tried filling up the silence. "You returned a lot of books. I didn't know you liked reading."

"Oh, not really. I just like reading about things I like." Amber pulled out a copy of _Constellations in other Galaxies_ from the shelf.

"You like stars?" he asked in sincere curiosity. He hadn't pegged Amber to be the reading type. Maybe they weren't that different after all.

"Like them? I love everything about them!" she said proudly, "I once discovered a star, myself. One of the prettiest in the sky, naturally. You must see it."

"I'll see if I can," said Desmond as he began skimming the shelves.

"Looking for anything specific?" asked Amber. "I might be able to help; I've been here more times than I'd like to admit."

"Have you seen a book called _Magicae Stella_? Royal Prep has a copy or two but I couldn't find them."

"Hmm," Amber thought for a moment, "It does ring a bell. I believe it's somewhere...there!" said Amber as she pointed to a shelf across them.

"You know, you could have just asked Ruben."

"He and I don't really get along well," said Desmond as they were walking, "And, he's a little terrifying."

"You never did answer my question. How did he come to dislike you so much?"

"I honestly have no idea. I don't remember ever doing anything wrong to him."

"That's odd; he's usually so sweet once you get to know him," remarked Amber.

"Oh, there it is!" said Desmond as he took the book he was looking for. "Anyways, avoiding him seems to be working fine for both of us; I think I'll be sticking to that."

"You do know that you'd have to talk to him if you're going to borrow that, right?"

Truthfully, Desmond hadn't thought of it. Now that Amber had brought it up, he will have to weigh his options. He never thought that he would miss Mrs. Higgins _this_ much. It's should be easy enough—go there; hand over the book and the borrower's card; have it processed; and finally, take the book and go home. Yep, yep. Simple. Very simple. Desmond took a deep breath and started heading for the librarian's desk.

As soon as he went past the bookshelf nearest the hall and made the turn, he caught sight of Ruben. Desmond then realized the power of eye contact—he quickly turned around and went back to where he came.

"On second thought, I'll just read it here," said Desmond as he took a seat by one of the vacant tables.

"You don't honestly think you can finish that book in one seating. I could help you borrow that."

It was a tempting offer—but not tempting enough to induce Desmond to confront the dwarf who seemed to hate him.

"That's okay. I'm a quick reader," said Desmond as he started flipping through the pages, "Besides, I could just borrow it after if don't finish."

Amber raised an eyebrow and took the only other copy of Desmond's book from the nearby shelf.

Desmond watched as she walked out of sight.

He had his work cut out for him—a thousand-ish pages to read, understand, remember, and only a handful of hours until closing time. "Okay Desmond, you can do this; 2 pages down 1108 pages to go," he encouraged himself in his thoughts.

oOo

"Page 10 already? I was only out for barely 5 minutes," remarked Amber.

Desmond took his eyes off his book. "There were a lot of pictures. I thought you already left?"

"It is getting a bit late," Amber dropped a book on the table, "Which is why you had best be going home too."

Desmond eyed the title plate on the cover, it read: _Magicae Stella._ He was confused—did Amber just..?

"Give it back to me in two weeks so I could return it."

"I-I, uh," he didn't know what to say.

"Come on, put that book you're holding back, and let's get going."

Desmond nodded and stowed the book in his hands back on the shelf, subsequently taking the book Amber borrowed for him.

"Let's go," said Amber in a sing-song tone.

They walked out of the library, but not without Amber saying goodbye to Ruben and ruben glaring at Desmond.

"What are you going to wish for?" asked Amber while on their way out of the school.

"Huh?"

"Wishing stars. That's what the book is about, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, it is," said Desmond. _Magicae Stella_ was a book about the magic of the shooting stars that grant wishes. It was what Desmond chose to write about. "I don't really have a wish in mind—I just find them interesting and decided to make my report about them."

"Is that so?"

"Have you read this before?"

"Not entirely, no. Just scanned a few pages. Wishes made to a star becoming true are just stories made to make smaller children smile. Shooting stars are very pretty, but that's it."

"Have you tried?"

"Of course."

"How was it?"

"Technically, the wish did come true; but, then again, I usually get all of my wishes, including those _not_ made to a star."

Desmond saw his coachman calling for him. "I have to go. Thanks again for the book, Amber." He ran off to his carriage and waved goodbye to Amber on the way.

Amber smiled and waved back, "Don't forget, two weeks!"

* * *

"What took you?" asked James.

"Oh, you know, princess things," said Amber as she settled in the carriage.

"Princess things?" questioned Sofia.

"Mm-hmm," hummed Amber, "I'm feeling very benevolent today."

"Where did that come from?" said James as he rolled his eyes.

* * *

 **AN:** Tell me what you think. Read and review please~


	2. Gum

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.**

 **AN: I once posted a different chapter 2 called "Make a Wish (part 2)"-please forget all about it if you have read it. I read it again and felt that it was obscenely horrible. The story was rushed, made no sense, and the writing was lazy. I've scrapped and rethought the rest of the "Make a Wish" arc. This isn't the new part 2, though; just another day at Royal Prep with Desmond and Amber. Part 2 will come at a later episode. Enjoy.**

* * *

Gum

"Gum-boom!" James proudly hoisted a fistful of candies wrapped in a brightly glistening gold-colored foil as he came rushing inside the classroom.

Zandar immediately stood up and excitedly jogged to greet James, "I can't believe you actually brought some! Awesome!"

Amber and Sofia walked in shortly afterwards, with Amber rolling her eyes and huffing as she took her seat. It was James being his mischievous self; even on a day as important as this one, Class Picture day.

Yes, yes, it was made clear multiple times by Royal Prep that it is being "Royal" on the inside is what counts the most; but, Amber firmly believes that it is also equally important that a person, let alone a Royal, maintain a pleasant and dignified appearance.

Amber would not have James' antics accidentally cause her to be misrepresented. No, she was going to stay perfectly clean today. She had decided on it the moment she woke up.

James and Zandar continued fidgeting over their magical snack, the Gum-boom. "The one and only fabulous exploding bubble gum! Literally feel the flavors tingle on your tongue. Blow a bubble and watch as the candy wonderfully explode like a fantastic set of fireworks," Zandar read on one side of the rectangular candy.

"...Warning, do not eat with soda," he added, reading the small text.

Zandar and James looked at each other, seemingly coming to full mutual understanding without using words.

"You have any soda?"

"You know it."

"Brilliant."

"James, I don't really think that's such a good idea," warned Sofia.

Amber sighed. Of all the weeks that she could have her assigned seat next to James', it just had to be on the week when they would have their class picture.

She was James' twin, she knew that once James has one of his brilliant ideas, nothing could stop him from doing it. So, she came to school with an mindset to be extra-cautious; she even brought her parasol inside, just in case.

James drank some soda and popped the Gum-boom in his mouth. They were actually going to do it. Seeing this, Amber hastily took her parasol and attempted to shield herself from the blast of sticky gum all while standing up and backing away.

Unfortunately, the warning on the wrapper was not something to be taken lightly. The gum came in contact with the moisture of the soda inside James' mouth and began vibrating and whizzing uncontrollably in James mouth. In less than a second, the gum shot straight toward a running Amber who was still trying to open her parasol. The gum flew towards the back of Amber's head and exploded half an inch away from her, knocking her down and spreading all over her hair.

Amber saw the gum in action the day before. It was not supposed to act like that. The gum doesn't shoot out of people's mouths, and it most certainly does not explode on its own. You had to slowly blow a bubble, then it explodes afterwards. The blast shouldn't even reach that far away, she was supposedly out of range; yet, the gum still found its way on her.

"Oh no, Amber!" Sofia rushed to Amber as soon as she snapped out of the shock. "Are you alright?"

"James!"

"Sarreh," James exclaimed sincerely, although almost unintelligibly because of the soreness in his mouth. "Ar yeh hurd?" he asked worriedly as the soreness slowly faded. Lucky for James, the candy shot out of his mouth before it did any serious damage.

Amber barely saw her reflection on Sofia's amulet, but the image was clear enough for her to know her hair has been ruined.

"I'll get it out, I swear!" said James, his mouth now feeling a little better, although tender. James started pulling on the gum on Amber's hair.

"Ow! Stop!"

"It's not coming off!" James shouted anxiously.

Amber looked at James with disappointment. "I'm going home; get your mouth checked," said Amber crossly before she left. She was not going to have a picture of her taken while she was in this state. She decided that it she was better off not being in the picture than looking like a messy, mad scientist in it.

The more she thought about what had just happened, the more she picked up her pace. She had left the room walking, but by the time she had barely even walked a few feet from the door, she was already sprinting.

* * *

Desmond was walking down the hall, humming. It was a great day. How can someone _not_ be chipper in a day such like this one. The weather was great and the birds were singing; cake was going to be served as a snack later in Royal Prep's dining hall. Desmond almost thought that there could be no way that anyone would be having a bad time on this particular day—that is, until Amber ran past him, and Amber was obviously distressed.

Sofia, chasing after Amber, ran frantically past Desmond, "Amber, wait!"

"What's going on?"asked Desmond to apparently no one as Sofia was already out of sight.

Desmond unconsciously placed his right hand on the bottom side of his backpack behind his back and felt through his bag the hardbound cover of the book Amber borrowed for him; and, he chased after them.

"...ask Cedric when I get home," Desmond faintly heard Amber's voice as he neared the front door.

"But you'll miss the picture," replied Sofia sadly, "You'll never make it back in time."

Amber sighed. "I know. But, I don't want to be seen like this," she said as she covered her face with a fan, "There's always next year."

Desmond finally reached the lawn outside. He saw Sofia and the aftermath of Amber's hair. Gum was all over. "It's not on your dress," Desmond noted.

"Desmond," said Sofia when she saw him. "He's right, maybe you could wear a wig, or a hat" Sofia went on offering band-aid fixes on the problem.

"Where would we get those," Amber shot the idea down.

"We could borrow from the thea-"

"We won't find one that wouldn't look goofy on the picture from the theatre's costumes, Sofia."

Desmond drew nearer and was engrossed in examining Amber's hair. "Is this, Gum-boom?"

"Is it okay if I touch your hair?" Desmond asked without waiting for a reply for his earlier question.

"What," Amber asked, surprised, "Why?"

Desmond proceeded to carefully stroke and poke on the gum, "It's not hardened yet. I think it would be easy to take it off."

"But, we've tried that," Sofia replied for her sister, "It's stuck and it hurts when you pull."

"You have to loosen the gum first; follow me," said Desmond as he took Amber's hand and lead his two friends to the school's greenhouse.

* * *

Desmond made Amber sit on a wooden chair and begun to pick lemons off of the evergreens. He set them on the nearby table of gardening tools.

"What are you doing?" asked Sofia as she watched Desmond rinse the watering pot and fill it with water.

Amber watched as Desmond used a hand spade to halve the lemons. Desmond squeezed the lemons he had picked out into the watering pot.

"Lemon juice?"asked Sofia.

Amber wondered what he was doing with a watering pot of lemon-water solution as he drew closer.

"Tilt your head back."Desmond's hand softly pushed against Amber's forehead.

Before Amber could react or even process what was happening, she felt her tiara being taken off and some liquid being showered along her hair.

Lemon juice. Lemon juice was on her hair! He was making it worse. She snapped her head back up, "Don't you think my hair has been through enough already?"

Amber felt Desmond put his hand on her shoulder. "The lemon juice can break down the sugar in the gum, it should dissolve a little and come off with a little rubbing. Trust me."

She felt the sincerity in the gentle touch of his ridiculously feminine hand on her shoulder. She thought for a moment—a moment of hesitation, if you will. Well, her hair was already ruined anyway, she thought as she closed her eyes and tilted her neck back, resting the part where her head joins her neck on the backrest of the chair—her soiled golden locks flowing down. She gave in. "Do what you must."

Desmond sprinkled the liquid over where the gum covered, making sure not to soak anything else. He carefully rubbed the pieces of gum on her hair. Soon enough, the candy pieces loosened their tether on Amber's hair and let themselves be guided off by Desmond's careful strokes.

"It's working," remarked Sofia.

"Could you get another pot filled with water for me?" asked Desmond as he continued removing the remaining pieces of Gum-boom, "We need to rinse the juice off so her hair wouldn't be too sticky when it dries."

"How did you know that would work?" asked Amber as Sofia looked around the greenhouse for a second pot.

"I-I read it from somewhere."

"Really? That's-uh, an interesting if not random thing to read about."

"I played with Gum-boom before," admitted Desmond, "It wasn't nearly as bad as yours but a little got stuck on my hair too."

Amber found it hard to believe, "You had soda with Gum-boom knowing that the wrapper told you not to? You didn't strike me as the type."

"Huh? No! I just blew a bubble. Don't tell me you did?"

"No! I'd never; this was all James.'"They paused for a moment then proceeded to chuckle together.

"It's a good thing your hair wasn't burnt. Gum-boom with soda can get really hot for a second."

Sofia shortly arrived with a water-filled watering pot and handed it to Desmond. "Here you go."

Desmond grabbed the pot by the handle and rinsed what's left of the lemon juice on Amber's hair as best as he could. "All done."

"My hair smells of lemon."

"It's not bad. Lemons are fruits, and fruits are from flowers," said Desmond.

"So, technically, your hair smells like fruit and flowers," Sofia added.

"I think it smells nice. Here," Desmond handed Amber a white cotton shirt from his bag along with Amber's tiara, "It's not a towel but it should do. I haven't used it yet."

"I don't know what to say," said Amber surprised as she took the shirt and her tiara , "Thank you."

Desmond flushed in embarrassment upon hearing the genuine gratitude from his friend's words. Come to think of it, what he just did was actually really bold and embarrassing too. The thought just came to him after everything had happened. Desmond didn't know what came over him.

"I-I think I'll go ahead," said Desmond as he clumsily closed his backpack and headed for the classroom.

Sofia and Amber watched as the hero of the day rushed out.

"Here, I'll do it," said Sofia as she offered to help Amber dry her hair, "I have a comb in my bag we could use later."

"Thanks, Sofia."

"I couldn't have my first class picture at Royal Prep be without my sister," said Sofia as she dried Amber's hair.

"Desmond's really nice, isn't he?" commented Sofia.

Amber looked down at the glistening tiara her hands were fiddling with. "He is, isn't he." Amber smiled.

oOo

Amber and Sofia were the last to arrive for the picture; late, but prepared—they were as picture-ready as the could be. They came just a bit after James—he's alright, by the way.

"Princess Sofia, Princess Amber, there you are. Come along now," said Flora as Fauna and Merryweather guided the two princesses to their positions for the picture.

Amber searched on her cluster of classmates as she the face she was looking for, she beamed at Desmond and mouthed one last "Thanks" while Desmond shyly averted his gaze.

When everyone was ready and in their positions, Flora flicked her wand. A thick paintbrush speedily floated and smacked itself onto the center of the huge canvas standing opposite the set-up of royals and teachers. Paint flowed from the brush and enveloped the whole canvas, immortalizing the moment being "seen" by the canvas in the form of a painting.

* * *

 **AN:** Another attempt at keeping the children in character. I tried referencing the little quirk of Desmond in that gives him that spike of confidence and boldness when required (usually with the help of Sofia in the series; here, I let Amber be the trigger). Please tell me how I did or what I could have done better. Thank you :)


	3. Jitters, Misunderstandings, Friendship

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.**

 **AN: How's this? Better than the last one, I hope. Also, WAFF (What Are Friends For) will be a monthly thing now.**

* * *

Jitters, Misunderstandings, and Friendship

Every start of the month, the seating arrangement in class is shuffled. Just yesterday, on Class Picture day, the seating arrangements were changed. Everyone had a new seat mate. The chairs and tables were meant to accommodate a pair of students, as such they were seated in pairs: Sofia was seated next to Vivian, Zandar was seated next to Jin, Jin was next to Khalid, and so on.

Desmond's seat was right in the middle of the front row, with Hildegard. Desmond himself would admit that he wasn't comfortable around people with an air similar to Hildegard. That was okay, it wasn't the first time he's been seated with her—it's just that James' and Amber's table was right next to theirs, and Amber was the one seated right across the aisle from where he was. In a sense, he was sandwiched between two prissy princesses.

Ever sat next to a person waaay up there on the opposite side of the social food-chain? Try being seated with two of them. It's a little less than pleasant. It makes you feel small—it made him feel small.

Most people would just try to ignore the feeling; instead, they would focus on the class, not minding whoever was around. That was no problem with Desmond. No matter whom he was seated with, the moment the professor starts the lesson, he would be all eyes and ears.

oOo

It was art class. This time, instead of going to the art room, they stayed in their homeroom. They were learning sketching techniques on a charcoal pencil, and they were each given a single, thick sheet of parchment to draw on.

Desmond didn't realize he had left his sharpening knife at home until class started, and charcoal pencils don't have the sturdiest of tips; not even for people with a feather touch. At this point, he had chipped the tip off of the three pencils he had. He was in big trouble, he wasn't done.

He had to borrow from someone. Hildegard? She was too engrossed in her work; he shouldn't disturb her. Maybe he could ask Amber? He looked at Amber but then immediately turned his head to his parchment after a second of eye contact. He couldn't. He felt heat rush to his face. He can still remember everything from yesterday. Not only does Amber kind of intimidate him, now as an added bonus, due to yesterday's events, she also makes him feel really flustered and awkward. Talking to Amber was out of the picture. He's left with the kids behind him, whom he really didn't know; so, that's out too. He's left to making do with his three pencils.

"Psst," he heard faintly from his left. That wasn't for him... probably. He continued to think of alternative sharpeners as the psst's increase in frequency. Maybe he could use his nails to shave off the wood? He looked at his nails and sighed—he can't, too short.

"Desmond!" He heard Amber whisper. He tried to pretend he didn't hear her.

"Desmond!" Amber whispered again.

He inhaled then slowly turned to face a smiling Amber. She had her arm extended, pointing the handle of a small craft knife towards Desmond. "You needed one, right?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Thanks," Desmond took the knife quickly and without saying another word. He didn't even make eye contact.

He carefully carved the end of all three of his pencils to aptly dull points. Great, now he just had to return the knife. He planned to do it quickly, efficiently, and painlessly. He will be doing it in one stroke. It was now or never.

He gripped the knife and threw his hand across the aisle while maintaining his gaze down on his desk. "Amber," he almost shouted, "Thanks."

Amber felt a mix of surprise and confusion. He didn't have to raise his voice.

"Is there a problem, Prince Desmond?" asked their professor, to which the class chuckled in response.

"No, Ma'am," replied Desmond followed by an apology. He was being laughed at. He looked down on his parchment again and started drawing again, trying to shrug it off. Man. was that ever one of the more humiliating things that had ever happened to him.

Amber suppressed a giggle. On Amber's defense, she couldn't help it. What happened was amusingly and pleasantly bizarre. Desmond's voice even cracked a bit on the first syllable of her name.

* * *

Amber had noticed something about Desmond; she had initially dismissed the thought, but, it was hard to deny it now. Desmond had been acting strangely today—or, at least, Desmond had been acting strangely relative to Amber's impression of him. Maybe it was just her imagination; she doesn't know Desmond all that much anyways. However, Amber couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being avoided. It seemed to her that Desmond would rather not have anything to do with her. But how could he prefer that, when she had been especially nice today, too—was one of Amber's thoughts.

Had she done something wrong? She honestly doesn't remember something of that sort. As far as she knew, she hadn't done anything recently to have made anyone even think of avoiding her—especially Desmond, who had done her a great favor just yesterday. Yet, there is evidence of her being avoided multiple times in the past three class periods.

Whenever she called on to him it seemed like he was pretending not to notice. It took Amber a handful of calls before she got a response from Desmond—and, no, it wasn't just that one time when she lent him her knife, he also did the same during Math and Potions And, when he finally does respond, he had not, even for a second, turn to face her. She thought at first that maybe he just hadn't heard her; but, he had acted the same way even during the break between the 2nd and 3rd period when she had been using her voice in its natural volume. Not to mention, it had seemed like he was finding the shortest possible reply to everything.

That aside, she still had to return Desmond's shirt. Just a few more moments before the class would end and lunch break would start—it was the perfect time to return it and thank him again, There was no way he could pretend not to hear her when she's right in front of him—that is, if he really did intend to avoid her.

The bell rung to signal the start of the lunch hour. Here goes.

"Des-"Amber wasn't even able to finish calling his name before he stood up and quickly left. She raised a brow. "Huh, ignoring me, are we?" she said, deciding that she would get to the bottom of this.

* * *

"Whew," breathed Desmond in relief as he washed his hands in the washroom. He really needed to _go._ He had been holding it in since halfway through Potions class. He couldn't miss even just five minutes of the lecture, especially anything in the middle of it—the class was _that_ difficult. He went straight to the cafeteria right afterwards. He had known that today, they were to be serving his favorite.

Royal Prep's cafeteria was much like every other private school's. It was a large space as big as the area of 3 dozen of Royal Prep's classrooms put together. There were all sorts of tables and they were apart by an apt distance so that there would be enough room for people to move about the room even when every table was filled—a scenario which had never been the case.

Desmond took his usual spot, the table-for-4 that people rarely occupy next to the window overlooking the playground and near the far corner of the room, right after he claimed his meal. He was about to plunge his spoon in his bowl of soup when a tray of SetA from today's lunch menu fell neatly upright in front of him. Naturally, the owner of this meal came with it, and she seated right across Desmond.

Desmond tried to focus only on his plate as Amber began picking on her salad. They sat there eating silently, and, man, was the atmosphere tense—at least for Desmond. He kind of felt as if Amber wanted him to talk; and whether he would, he debated in his mind. She had sat there and ate without even a word or a nod—not that he would notice a nod since he had never taken his eyes off his food the moment she sat down.

Princesses in Royal Prep, especially princesses like Amber, tended to eat without making a sound from their utensils. Every bite had to be with grace and poise. Anything even slightly less would have meant something was wrong; and practically everyone knew of this unspoken fact. Amber was making faint scraping noises with her knife and fork as she ate—even more worrying to Desmond, though, was the strange feeling that she stared daggers at him every few minutes. Had he done something to irritate her? Desmond thought for a bit and concluded that if she was irritated at him for whatever reason, it most likely would have been how he had returned Amber's craft knife. He had drawn unwanted attention to them in the middle of class—and he probably would not have liked it if someone else did the same thing to him.

Desmond looked up at Amber and asked after a breath, "Is there something wrong?"

He had a number of expected reactions from Amber for his question and he anticipated that one of them might leave Amber's lips—but none of them did. He was instead met with kind of a smug smirk from the princess.

Amber folded her hands under her chin. "So, you're finally looking my way."

Desmond stared at her blankly, confused.

"Don't give me that. You were avoiding me since this morning, weren't you? I want to know why," said Amber in a matter-of-fact tone.

While it was true that Desmond did minimize contact with Amber out of embarrassment of his unintentional display of boldness the day before, he did not believe that he had made particular effort in ignoring Amber. "What? Where did you get that idea?"

"Oh, come on. I don't believe for one bit that you couldn't hear me all those times I called your name. You also rushed out of the room just as I was about to talk to you earlier. It was very rude. What have I done to you?"

On hindsight, he _had_ seemed to be avoiding her, even if it really wasn't his intention.

"Well?"

"I didn't mean to be rude, honest." He looked down on his plate and played with the single bit of corn still on it with his knife. "I was just... a bit shy that's all."

Amber sighed. "Running out of the room even while hearing someone call out to you is a little extreme for 'shy' don't you think?"

"T-That's just a misunderstanding," he said while looking straight at Amber. "I had really had to use the bathroom," he added bashfully.

Well, that actually made a lot of sense, thought Amber—although it did seem too convenient. But, out of the goodness of her heart, she let Desmond have the benefit of the doubt.

"Okay, then, why are you suddenly so 'shy' with me."

Desmond felt his ears redden as he remembered yesterday's events. He cringed at the memory of him telling a girl who just had gum on her hair that her hair smelled nice—all while offering his shirt. He shook his head to snap out of it. He responded firmly, with his cheeks flaming, "A-anyways, I'm sorry if I was rude,"

"You don't have to be."

"Huh?"

"Whatever it was, I don't really care anymore. Just don't let it happen again." She said as she took the neatly folded shirt she had placed beside her earlier. "I just want you to know that you don't have to be shy around me," said Amber as she passed the shirt to Desmond.

Desmond took the shirt, "I-"

"You're refreshingly different, and also really sweet. I like that," said Amber. "Look, I don't think that we're friends the way friends should be—I want to change that. Let's start over."

"Hi, I'm Princess Amber of Enchancia. Pleased to meet you," said Amber extending a hand for a shake.

Desmond took a moment to let all the randomness sink in. "I-I'm Desmond. Nice to meet you too."

"So it's settled; starting today, I'm officially one of your closest friends," stated Amber as she shook Desmond's hand, "And you're one of mine."

* * *

 **AN:** About 2 more chapters until Make a Wish (part 2). Yay~


	4. Getting to Know

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.**

 **AN: I realized I've been doing more Desmond-side parts than Amber-side ones. So, I've made this one mostly Amber-side. Enjoy.**

* * *

Getting to Know

"Good morning, Desmond," greeted Amber as soon as she sat down on her seat.

"Hi, Amber," Desmond greeted back, cheeks slightly tinted pink.

Silence ensued between them—in a sense that disregarded the noise inside the classroom. Things did not go as well as Amber had imagined—although, it went as she expected. Of course it would be at least a little awkward after their sudden mutual declaration of friendship. In all seriousness and honesty, the way she and Desmond became "close friends" overnight (or more accurately in their case, over lunch) was abrupt. Friendship doesn't work that way; it builds up over time—or so she believed.

Come to think of it, how do friendships start? Amber could not even remember any phase of her relationship with Sofia other than how it is at present and how it was before when she was still picking on her. It was like _they_ became close overnight—which contradicted the notion that it should build up overtime. Either way, she had promised that she would be a great friend; and, she planned to see that promise through. Her honor was on the line, after all. A princess should not break promises.

She needed a topic to break the ice, she thought. What does Desmond like? Books? She remembered that she borrowed a book for Desmond a couple of days ago.

"How is the report you were writing?" Amber asked, filling the awkward silence between them.

Amber could have sworn she saw the ends of Desmond's lips curve downwards for a split second before it formed an unreadable smile.

"It's getting along well. Thanks again for the book," said Desmond.

"It's almost been two weeks since you've borrowed it. Remember that you have to give it back to me so I could return it before the deadline."

Desmond reached into his bag and pulled out the copy of _Magicae Stella_. "I'm actually finished," said Desmond as he handed Amber the book.

"Thanks," said Amber as she took it from Desmond. Okay, so far so good. She had managed to, at least she thinks she did, make Desmond more comfortable about talking to her. The conversation seemed to be running as smoothly as it could get. "So, how was it? Still think those shooting stars could grant wishes?" Amber asked jestingly.

"Well," replied Desmond, with his face cracking a grin, "It's not a stretch."

"Really? Made any wishes lately?"

"Not yet. Stars haven't been shooting much lately," Desmond said with a laugh, "You?"

"Like I said, that's just a children's tale to me; unless, of course, it proves to me otherwise," said Amber.

"Then, if you would make a wish right now; what would it be?"

"Hmm," hummed Amber as she held her chin between her thumb and curled fingers in thought, "I can't think of anything good right now. A new tiara with a matching pair of earrings, maybe? How about you?"

"If I tell you now, there's a chance it won't work when I do wish it."

"That's no fair; I told you mine," Amber pouted.

"Did you? I only heard something you came up with from the top of your head."

Okay, that was sort of pushing it. Don't get too comfortable with me yet, Amber joked to herself in her thoughts.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a quite the sarcastic side?"

"Nope; you're the first one." Desmond looked up for a bit as if trying to remember something, then asked, "What did I say?"

Amber raised a brow.

She was about to comment on what Desmond had said when a wisp of sparkles flew inside the classroom and materialized into Fauna.

"Good morning, class!" said Fauna.

"Talk to you later," Amber whispered.

oOo

Classes ended for a lunch break as soon as the school bells sounded audibly across the Royal Prep campus. James, who was sitting beside Amber excitedly rushed out of the classroom with his friends. Hildegard stood up and motioned for Clio to come, which she did while humming happily to herself the moment she had noticed Hildegard's gestures.

Hildegard turned to Amber, "The others and I are going to have a lunch picnic with the others on the garden; are you coming?"

Amber took a quick glance at Desmond before focusing on Hildegard again; she had an idea.

As Desmond was about to get up and leave, Amber took him by the arm. "He'll be joining us," Amber said mischievously, "Won't you, Desmond?"

She wasn't going to take no for an answer. Besides, who wouldn't want to eat with her and friends, she thought.

"Desmond? You're bringing him along?" Hildegard asked. "Why? Isn't he—you know."

"I-" Desmond tried to speak.

"Why not? The more the merrier," Amber said, "I vouch for him."

Hildegard studied Amber's expression then sighed, giving in. "Alright, I suppose that's fine. It's not like it's my business whom you take along with you."

Amber beamed her white teeth at Desmond. Well, she thought, if he was going to be a "close friend" then he would need to get to know her better. And, what better way is there than to have lunch with her and her group of friends; she could learn more about him this way, too. Furthermore, she thought, if more people get to know Desmond better, she's pretty sure that he would be a lot more popular; and it would expand his horizons. It was a winning strategy in many ways.

"We're going on ahead then. See you later," said Hildegard, "Let's go Clio."

Desmond put his hand over Amber's, which was still holding his left, upper arm. "Uhm, you can let go now."

"Oh, sorry," said Amber, briefly turning a little pink.

Amber cleared her throat and scanned the room. Spotting Sofia, she called out, "Sofia, are you coming to eat with us?"

Desmond unnoticeably tensed up.

"No, Vivian and I are going to meet up with Zoe in the cafeteria," said Sofia with a waving Vivian beside her, "Maybe next time."

Desmond exhaled after hearing Sofia's reply.

Amber shrugged and said, "Okay." Amber moved to exit the classroom but stopped a quarter of the way there when she had noticed that Desmond wasn't following. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I, um, maybe it's a better idea if I sit this one out. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Don't be silly," said Amber as she went back to fetch Desmond. She had concluded that Desmond was just being shy about eating with classmates whom he was not too acquainted with. She took his wrist and lead him out the door, "Let's go. They'll like you, I promise."

"What," said Desmond as he tried to catch up with Amber's pace, "I think you might have gotten the wrong idea."

They walked together to the garden just like that, with Desmond tethered to Amber via his wrist. Desmond tried to multiple times to talk his way out of the lunch arrangement, but Amber did not take any of Desmond's protests.

oOo

At this point, they had already joined the others seated on the picnic blanket. The blanket was a huge cut of silk laid down on the green grass—there had been enough space to fit all six of them with plenty of room for food and space to eat comfortably. They sat in a circle spread out.

Amber mentally took note of the people present; there was: Hildegard, Clio, Maya, Jun, herself, and Desmond. On hindsight, Amber realized that she might have made a slight error in judgment in bringing Desmond along. He barely knew her friends aside from the fact that they're mostly part of the same class, and Desmond being the only boy present doesn't help either. Amber believed that she of all people would know how unpleasant it is to be the odd one out in a group; she's had the experience of hanging out with James and his little gang in the past—she made it a point to never put herself in a similar position again.

Well, it was too late now. They were already settled in. "It's not all that bad," Amber convinced herself. Part of the original plan _was_ to have her friends get to know Desmond and vise versa. Also, he had her; she'll just have to make extra effort not to make Desmond feel out of place—totally the opposite of how James had been that one time. The main point was for them to get to know each other better, after all—everything in the plan still works out fine.

Everyone was looking at her and Desmond, especially Desmond. Not that they had a problem with Desmond, it was just that no one ever would have thought that Desmond would be having a friendly picnic with them—just purely hanging out and no schoolwork tied to it. It was normal for them to wonder.

Although they don't mean any harm, being gazed upon is not exactly a reassuring feeling; Amber knew she had to step in and ease the tension.

"So, what's for lunch?" Amber asked while peeking into one of the picnic baskets.

"Our chef prepared servings of salad enough for all of us," said Hildegard.

"I brought some tea," said Jun.

"I made some sandwiches to share with everyone," said Maya while opening the basket nearest her.

"What's in them?" asked Clio.

"The usual," replied Maya, "I put, tomatoes, onions, melted cheese, mayonnaise, parsley, celery, tuna-"

"A tuna sandwich! I love those," said Jun.

"I like most all sandwiches but if I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with ham-and-cheese," said Clio as the plates of sandwiches were being distributed amongst the group.

"I'm more of a wrap kind of princess than a sandwich kind," said Hildegard, "Aren't you the same, Amber?"

"Hmm," Amber hummed as she thought, "Turkey would probably be my favorite kind of sandwich—or wrap. I can't say which one of the two I like most though; It usually depends on my mood."

It was the perfect time to seamlessly integrate Desmond into the conversation, Amber thought. "You strike me more of a bacon-lover," Amber remarked as she handed Desmond a plate of one of Maya's tuna sandwich.

Desmond took a plate after a discreet sign of hesitation. "I like chicken," said Desmond, looking down at his plate.

"Chicken is my second favorite; I like chicken better _not_ on a sandwich, though," said Jun.

"Has anyone started on the homework Professor Popov gave us the other day?" asked Hildegard.

"Ugh," Maya groaned, "I haven't read a single word."

As the others went on talking, Amber said, "These are my friends. They're a friendly bunch, don't you think?"

"I guess so, but," Desmond leaned closer to Amber to whisper, "I should get going."

"You can't be serious," Amber whispered back, "You're doing great. Keep it up and you're going to be talking to them like old friends in a matter of minutes."

"No, really, I have someplace else I need to be."

Amber couldn't think of any place else where Desmond absolutely had to be _during lunch hour._ "Come on, stay a little longer. It will be fun. Don't think that you aren't invited—I want you here," Amber whispered.

"I'm serious."

"Okay, then," said Amber, "Can I come with? I mean, the whole point of this is for us to get to know each other better. The place doesn't really matter."

"That's, uh," said Desmond, then he gave in and dropped a tiny portion of the information he was withholding, "Maybe some other time. I have a formal interview to attend."

"Is something the matter?" asked Jun, noticing Amber and Desmond's conversation.

"I'm sorry, I really am happy to be having lunch with all of you; but, I have an appointment," said Desmond as he stood up, "Thank you for the food."

"Did he not like the sandwich," asked Maya as Desmond jogged back into the Royal Prep main building complex.

"No, I'm sure he loved it," said Amber. Part of her didn't believe that Desmond did have an "appointment." She couldn't help but think that maybe she had been too pushy and that she had failed to make Desmond feel welcome in the lunch gathering.

* * *

Desmond wasn't just making excuses, though. He really did have an appointment. He was right outside the headmistress's, Flora's, office.

He first patted his trousers and straightened up his suit, then proceeded to knock.

"Come in," he heard Flora say.

He opened the door slowly and entered the room."

"Ah, Prince Desmond," greeted Flora as she pulled out a folder from her desk's top drawer, "I've been waiting for you. Come, take a seat."

* * *

 **AN:** I'm building things up for Make a Wish (Part II). I'm looking forward to revealing the significance of the events of the first chapter and Desmond's meeting. Tell me what you think, leave a review; and, as always, I hope you enjoyed reading.


	5. Unwanted, Unfounded Knowledge

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.**

 **AN: Finally reached the 5th-chapter milestone. Thank you for all the feedback; the reviews really motivate me to write. I hope that everyone who read this enjoyed reading every chapter thus far, and I hope you will all still come to enjoy every chapter from here on after. I strive to make every chapter better than the one before it.**

* * *

Unwanted, Unfounded Knowledge

Amber wasn't used to things going wrong; she especially doesn't like it when it doesn't. She didn't intend to, but, rather than doing Desmond good, she might have just made him feel bad. She might have made a mistake. She was at fault, or so she thought—and that doesn't sit well with her.

"He finally left," said Hildegard, "That didn't take long."

"Hildy!" Amber reprimanded.

"I wasn't finished speaking, Amber," defended Hildegard, "I mean, no one could blame him. It must have been very awkward."

Amber mulled the thought over and concluded that, yes, it had been very awkward. "Was it that bad? I really tried to make him as feel as welcome as possible."

"I thought we were being more than friendly enough, to be honest," said Maya.

"Maybe he really did have an appointment," suggested Clio, "He looked too much in a hurry."

"But that could also mean that he was in a hurry to get away," said Jun.

"What are you all on about?" said Hildegard, "The only reasonable explanation is that he is not one of us."

"Hey," Amber scrunched her brow, "That wasn't very nice. Take that back."

"Well, he _was_ the only boy here," said Maya, "And he isn't exactly part of this circle of friends. Anyone could feel out of place in that situation; Maybe Hildegard is right."

"I am right," said Hildegard, "But there's one other reason."

Everyone else looked at Hildegard wondering what she might have meant.

"What other reason could there be?" asked Jun.

"I think he's not who he says he is," said Hildegard.

"What do you mean?" asked Jun.

Hildegard scooted closer and everyone followed suit, compressing their group to a huddle-up on the middle of the picnic blanket. "So, he sits next to me, right?" she began.

"There was this one time during Math the other day—he was pulling out his textbook from his bag. When he brought it out, he clumsily took other things out with it. That's when I saw a folder and papers spilled out of it, all with the Clowfield logo."

"Clowfield? You mean that group of commoner schools around the world?" asked Maya.

"The very same," affirmed Hildegard, "From the looks of it, he must be transferring."

"But why would he be transferring?" questioned Amber.

"Exactly," said Hildegard, "Why else would he transfer if he wasn't a commoner?"

"That's crazy and you know it, Hildy."

Hildegard payed Amber's skepticism no mind, "I think he's adopted and that he's not really royal. I believe he has an older brother _—he_ must be the real Prince. _"_

"If he's part of the royal family, then he is royal," argued Amber, irritated, "Being adopted has nothing to do with it."

"Don't be so touchy, Amber. This isn't about Sofia," said Hildegard, "She's a special case. Normally, you wouldn't become prince without any royal blood."

"Okay then, assuming that he was, why is he transferring just now after all this time? Why was he even sent to study here in the first place if he wasn't royalty."

"I don't know. His adoptive parents must have just done it on a whim. Maybe he somehow lost their favor and is now being sent to a regular school for regular children like him."

"You're just jumping to conclusions from accidentally seeing that one file," said Amber. Hildegard was a dear, but sometimes, she could be quite irksome.

"Right or wrong, it doesn't matter—there is no doubt in my mind that what I saw was a transfer application for Clowfield," said Hildegard with confidence. "Why the sudden interest, anyways? You were never friends with Desmond—he was either an acquaintance or a friend of your siblings at best."

Amber didn't respond and just sipped her tea, ending the session of gossip.

* * *

Although he didn't actually accept Amber's invitation, Desmond felt that he had to apologize for ditching her. But, that proved to be a little difficult as Amber had been acting especially serious and pensive ever since lunch. Now that class was over, it was his last chance to do so.

"I'm sorry I left in hurry," said Desmond, "I really had an appointment with Ms. Flora."

"What's this about?" asked James, who was sitting next to Amber, in curiosity.

Amber didn't expect Desmond to apologize, she never thought that he had to—she admits that she pushed him into joining the picnic. "There's no need for you to apologize, really."

"No, seriously, I want to know. Amber? Dez?" waved James.

"I invited Desmond to join me and the others at lunch," replied Amber.

"I had to leave as soon as I joined, though," said Desmond, finishing the thought.

"Oh, I see. I didn't realize you two were close," said James as he stood up. "Well, I've got practice. See you."

"Let's go, Sof," said James.

"Coming!" said Sofia from across the room.

"What do you do when Sofia and James have to stay for practice?" asked Desmond, filling the silence after James and Sofia left.

"Baileywick sends two coaches whenever they have Derby practice after class," said Amber, "But, sometimes I stay and wait for them—usually at the library."

Desmond then had an idea, "Have you ever played Forests and Fairies?"

"I can't say I have."

"I-If you want to, there's a play set we could borrow from the library's game room," Desmond shyly invited.

"What about Ruben?"

"Oh yeah," Desmond briefly shivered, "That's fine. We just have to pass him at the entrance."

"Then, I'd be glad to play with you," agreed Amber, without hesitation. It was an opportunity to actually do "friend-things"—not to mention, an opportunity to find out about Clowfield.

* * *

The library's game room was about the size of their classroom. There were shelves of various games like Jenga, chess, backgammon, and there were even playing cards. There were six fairly large rectangular tables in the middle of the room for students to use. Desmond took a box from one of the shelves and picked the nearest table.

"So, how is it played?" asked Amber while settling herself on her seat.

"It's kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure book, but with dice and rules," said Desmond opening the box, "You act the part of your character and go on an an adventure set by this magic crystal ball."

Desmond laid out the game mat on the table and set the crystal ball on the center. "This crystal ball is the narrator and also serves as a projector—it conjures how we imagine the setting and our characters on the game mat. It's easier to understand once the game starts."

"This is... novel," remarked Amber. She had never heard of the game. Judging from Desmond's expression, he must like the game a great deal, she thought—he spoke freely and excitedly without a hint of his usual bashfulness.

"How do we start?" asked Amber.

"You touch the ball, close your eyes, and think hard about what kind of adventure you want; the ball will do the rest. The game starts once it narrates."

Desmond put his hand on an area on the surface of the crystal and closed his eyes. After a pause, she tried placing a finger on it and closed her eyes. She felt a tingling sensation from her finger and it ran all the way through her arm, her neck, and finally her head. Honestly, she couldn't think of what kind of adventure she wanted, her mind was too occupied on the events that transpired during lunch. She wanted to know about Clowfield.

"Imagine your character," said the crystal suddenly, making Amber open her eyes and jump a little.

"Please keep your eyes closed when imagining your character," said the crystal.

Amber did as the crystal asked, slightly creeped out, and imagined a blonde lady in a pretty dress.

"Here we go, Amber, the game is about to start."

"The game begins. Players, open your eyes."

The once empty board was now filled completely with objects—trees, towers, horses. It was a miniature castle, and their characters were on the board, on the castle grounds, looking around, appearing almost as surprised as Amber.

"Princess Lady and Sir Braveheart were nobles from the Kingdom of Ardenton," the crystal narrated, "They lived comfortably in the palace."

"This is surprisingly elaborate," said Amber, noticing the quality of the projections on the board.

"However, peace, as we all know, is easily disturbed," said the crystal, while the board enacted every word it uttered, "One day, meteors showered upon Ardenton, causing mass destruction."

"The councilmen had determined that it was the work of no other than the great Troll Overlord," said the crystal as the board showed two hooded sorcerers conjuring an image of the Troll Overlord for Princess Lady and Sir Braveheart to see.

"Wait, is that Ruben?" asked Amber laughingly, looking at Desmond.

Desmond's face assumed a shade of red, "No!" he denied, "All resemblances to real people and organizations are purely coincidental."

"It _is_ Ruben," Amber laughed, "I can't believe it!"

"Did you think of him specifically or is he really that scary to you that the crystal automatically made him the main antagonist?" Amber teased.

"Sure, keep laughing," Desmond sulked, his lips not being able to decide whether to pout or to smile, "At least I didn't name my character Princess Lady."

"I didn't think of that name," said Amber, "I didn't think of any name. It's the crystal ball without any naming sense."

"Princess Lady's health points were reduced due to shock. Roll a 20-sided die," said the ball.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Amber. What the ball says, goes," Desmond smirked handing Amber a 20-sided-die.

"This game is completely rigged," said Amber as she rolled a 10.

"Princess Lady is down to 15 health points."

"No fair! That's nearly half."

"Princess Lady and Sir Braveheart volunteered to find and defeat the Troll Overlord to save the Ardenton. And thus, their adventure begins," said the crystal, "Turn: Sir Braveheart."

"This is the part where we act out what we want to do so that the story progresses," explained Desmond.

"Okay, how do we do that?" asked Amber.

"I ask the the councilmen where the Troll Overlord might be," said Desmond to demonstrate.

"Roll a 20-sided die," ordered the ball. "16! Information gathering successful."

"Alright!"

The crystal ball drew the face of one of the councilmen on its surface and started talking in a different voice—this time it was squeaky and quivering, "We believe we have pinpointed the location of the Troll Overlord to a most unexpected location, Sir Braveheart. You must journey to the rural village of Clowfield, where he has an underground base of operations."

Desmond froze at the mention of Clowfield. It was definitely the last thing, if not totally off of his mind when they were imagining the story. Amber was just as surprised, thinking she might have unintentionally made Clowfield part of the story.

"Turn end," announced the crystal ball, reverting to its original appearance and voice, "Turn: Princess Lady."

"I, uh," Amber said, thinking, "Ask if they could arrange for a carriage to Clowfield."

"Dice roll not needed. Action failed."

The ball again showed the image of the councilman talking and spoke in his voice, "Apologies, Princess Lady. No transport could be arranged. All the castle's surviving horses are too injured to be of use. You must travel to Clowfield by foot. Take this map instead."

"Princess Lady acquired an item: 'Map to Clowfield,'" narrated the ball back in its normal state.

"Now what?" asked Amber.

Desmond studied Amber's expression. If it wasn't him, then it's her; but it was impossible, he thought, and at the same time it was also too big of a coincidence that she thought of Clowfield during the story structuring phase. "I-It's still your turn."

"Oh," said Amber, "Then, I call for servants to prepare the things necessary for the journey."

"Roll a 6-sided die," said the ball. "1! The King, who was nearby, stopped the servants."

The ball then drew an image of the King on its surface and spoke with a hoarse but mighty and dignified voice, "I will allow no such journey! Clowfield is a lowly commoner's land and it is far too dangerous. Let Sir Braveheart come alone, he was already queued for transfer before all this happened, anyways."

"Princess Lady skips the next turn. Turn end," announced the ball, "Turn: Sir Braveheart."

Desmond didn't take his turn, instead took the ball off the board, ending the game. "You knew about Clowfield?"

"I-" Amber tried to think of what to say. "Hildegard mentioned,"Amber said, adding under her breath, " _among other insensitive remarks,"_ after which, she continued audibly, "during the picnic that she saw your Clowfield application the other day."

"Then, you _do_ already know that I'm transferring."

"I had a few doubts, but I had a hunch, nonetheless." Amber said, "I don't know why, though."

Desmond sighed, "It's a family thing."

"Are you adopted?" Amber quickly asked.

"What, no. Why?"

"No reason," said Amber. She knew it; that theory was too farfetched. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

"Well, since you already know a little," said Desmond, "Our family's royal advisers wanted me to move to my Aunt's and become their heir. They lost hope that I would ever have cousins from there; that's where I come in. There wasn't a special school for royalty where they are, and they don't want me to be homeschooled; so they had me apply at the best school available, Clowfield."

"Then, the meeting and the report?"

"They're all for Clowfield," Desmond inhaled deeply as if to steel himself, "I'm leaving next week."

"But, we just became 'close friends,'" said Amber, "I was looking forward to knowing you."

"I looked forward to being friends with you too," Desmond said, the corners of his mouth trying hard to point upwards but the pull was just too strong down.

* * *

 **AN:** Early update! The next chapter will finally be Make a Wish (Part 2). Do you think they veered too far off character? Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoyed.  
*(2017-01-30): I'm taking a break from posting on fanfiction - (continued in my profile)


	6. Make a Wish (part 2)

**AN:** I was going to update last May, but I got stuck after writing about a fourth of this chapter. But, I found a bit of time and wrote down the rest of it after tweaking the outline I had a bit.

I hope everyone reading would enjoy this chapter.

To trueGeek, thanks a bunch for taking the time to comment on how I could improve on my writing. I really appreciate it, and I'll take care to keep every piece of advice in mind when writing.

* * *

Make a Wish - Part II

Desmond was leaving—soon at that. Amber pushed her plate, not wanting to eat any more of her meal, and retreated to her bedroom. It wasn't the food; she was just too preoccupied in her thoughts to notice the taste her buds are picking up.

Amber might come across as prissy and snobbish to some, and perhaps there was some truth to the impression, but when it came to people she had decided she liked, she showed a great deal of attachment and care—that's, in her own, Amber-way. Somehow, Desmond ended up in the list of people Amber personally liked; and his sudden would-be-exodus was an idea Amber found hard to swallow.

There wasn't anything she could do to have him stay, though he clearly wanted to. What child would want to leave the school and home he loved and grew up in? She was set, then, on accomplishing the next best thing: making his last day in Royal Prep one to be remembered. She already had everything planned out—it took roughly a second. Amber made her way to Sofia's, but not without first dragging James along with her.

"That's the plan. So, what do you think?"

"I think it's great—I know I would love it," said James as he was chewing on his donut, "What I don't get is why he didn't tell anyone he was moving."

"Maybe he didn't want anyone to worry," offered Sofia.

"He _was_ being secretive about it," James commented.

"It might be better if we first ask Desmond if he's comfortable with having everyone know."

"But Sofia, it's supposed to be a surprise send-off," protested Amber, "And, they'd find out once he's gone anyways."

"It's different. If Dez doesn't want anyone else to know, then nobody else should."

Sofia and James were out, apparently. Either James was easily swayed or Sofia was just that persuasive. She was back to square one.

oOo

Sometimes, when Amber's having trouble sleeping, she would sneak out to the castle's observatory. She can't use the huge telescope without assistance, but what she could do was retract the covers on the skylight. She would sit on the seat that was meant for the telescope and look up; it was kind of like the ones at a dentist's, so relative to Amber's size, it was more like a narrow bed than a chair when reclined. She could just lie there and watch for hours. It's something she does that people would find surprising she enjoyed. Just staring at the stars makes it easy to tune everything else out, before long it would feel like it was just her and the stars. Somehow this gave her a sense of calm, which, in her experience, could lead to two things: One was that it would make it easier for her to sleep, and Two, she'd get some kind of epiphany which would make it even harder for her to sleep since she'd get excited. This night, she'd be happy for either one.

oOo

"Good morning, Desmond," greeted Amber as she thumped lightly on the desk in front of Desmond to call even more attention to herself as the prince had his head down towards his book.

"Oh. Hi, Amber," returned Desmond.

"How long after classes can you stay?"

"Umm," Desmond hummed, bewildered by the sudden question, "My parents usually-"

"Never mind," said Amber. She then leaned close to his face and whispered, "When are you leaving for your Aunt's?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, why?" he whispered back.

"I take it you're already packed?"

"Yeah, but what-"

"Great! Then we're camping out at RP tonight. You know where the trees with the orchids grow right?"

Desmond couldn't even reply because Amber had already walked away to her seat and class was about to start.

What Amber had in mind was more of a spontaneous whim than a great epiphany. It was an idea that came to her after seeing a single, random, shooting star while stargazing in the observatory. She thought that, hey, maybe they could hunt for a shooting star and wish on it. On the off chance that it did, it would be the best case, right? Even if it really wasn't magical, or if they won't find a shooting star in the first place, it would still be nice watching the stars and just talking—it's something friends would do, and she bet that it would make for a fun, special last day, which was originally the whole point. She actually came early to Royal Prep just to get her plans sorted out with the Faries. She filled in the required form and made it an official club activity to get permission to use the grass field on the east side of the campus, which Amber knew from experience was the best place for stargazing at school. Truthfully, Amber didn't believe on wishing stars, but, perhaps more than anyone else in the world at the moment, she really hoped that they'd find at least one.

oOo

She hung out with Desmond for lunch. Of course, she also took Sofia and James with her. Might not be much of a company, but at least three of his friends, arguably the three closest friends he has in the classroom, were there to have lunch with him. Not to mention, the Enchancian kids were pretty popular and usually surrounded by their group of friends, but right then, Desmond had them all to himself.

Sofia and James brought a parting gift each, which they gave in a very roundabout manner to make it clear to Desmond that they _"don't"_ know about his transfer—James handed one of his favourite toy knights, and Sofia gave him a homemade bracelet. Sofia and James thought that Amber already had one prepared, but she didn't. She actually hadn't thought about it herself. Amber felt a tiny bit disappointed that she wasn't in on the idea.

After eating, Sofia and James cleared their part of the table and left to return their used silverware. Amber and Desmond were left behind for a short while. Desmond took the opportunity to clear things up with Amber.

"So what's this about camping?"

"I've made you a provisional Astronomy club member. As a club activity, we're both going stargazing," Amber revealed proudly.

Clearly, it was one of those statements that was hard to react to—there were just so many things to say that no one would know how to even start. But, he could tell Amber was looking forward to it. He thought that it must be her parting gift. Yeah, Desmond knew that the gifts James and Sofia gave him were farewell gifts even though they tried their hardest making it _not_ seem like it. Amber probably told them, and thankfully it seems, only them. Desmond didn't want to trouble anyone else, especially since he doesn't get to even talk to his classmates all that much.

"I need to tell my parents that I'll be staying late," Desmond sighed.

"Already taken care of," said Amber, "I sent a messenger with a letter before I went here for lunch. It's a club activity memo with the president's signature— _my_ signature, and the school stamp. They won't be any reason for them to worry."

"You're kind of scary, you know that?"

"What can I say, I'm very meticulous," she said, half-bragging and half-joking.

"Scary, yes; meticulous, I'm not so sure," said James who had just returned along with Sofia, "What did we miss?"

"Not much," replied Desmond.

They had spent the rest of lunch period just talking. Desmond reckoned that he had probably spoken more words during the hour-and-a-half than he has had this whole week. Just talking and laughing together was a lot of fun, a lot more than he had thought, actually. He kind of wished that it hadn't been fun, because now it left him wanting to stay even more. If he had just opened his shell earlier and put himself out there just a little more, he wondered if he would have had earned a permanent seat on Amber, James, and Sofia's usual lunch table. Well, it was too late now; and he concluded that spending more time with them on his last day would just further his attachment, and therefore regret. He decided that he'd go home as soon as classes end.

Amber had the opposite mindset. She was going through with the stargazing no matter what. It wasn't going to be a huge event like she would normally prefer, but she organised all of it herself. She did it all in one morning—a feat she's undoubtedly proud of. And, if she had learned anything from her sister, it was that even tiny, quaint set ups like this could be great and memorable. Since it _was_ her that organised it, she was confident that it would be so. She was then assured that she had the main goal practically covered: to make Desmond's last day special and make sure he won't forget any of them (her especially).

oOo

While Desmond did manage to leave immediately in stealth as class ended, he found that his coachman had not yet arrived. It was likely an effect of Amber's shenanigans earlier. If they had received Amber's memo, Desmond's parents might have thought that since Desmond was supposedly going stargazing, they could send the coachman a tad later and have him work in the castle or elsewhere rather than have him just wait for Desmond idly at Royal Prep. He was stuck at school, so then he thought that what better place to pass time than the main library.

"You're too predictable."

"Huh?" Desmond turned to the source of the voice. It was Amber.

"I was looking for you! What are you even reading?"

Desmond closed his book on an index finger and showed the cover to Amber— _Workforce Management: Optimisation,_ was written. "For the irony," said Desmond.

"I'll pretend I understood. That aside, I can't believe you'd ditch me—this isn't first time, isn't it?"

"I'm sure it would be just as much fun with only Sofia and James with you."

"What are you talking about? It's just us."

It was the plan, or rather, it _became_ the plan after lunch—originally she was going to take her siblings along, but seeing as how they didn't let her in on their gift thing, she decided she won't let them in on her idea too.

As if reading Desmond's mind, she intercepted his habitual apology, "I don't want to hear you apologise—it's your last day. And since you're already here this late, you might as well join me."

When they reached the grass fields, Desmond observed that Amber had already set it up with two lounge chairs, the one you'd see on a beach, with a picnic basket between.

"I've had someone pack the basket full of snacks if you're hungry," said Amber, noticing Desmond looking at it.

oOo

They literally went hunting for wishing stars. Amber had her eyes up the whole time, even while they were talking. Both of them knew there was no chance that they would see a magical metroid randomly entering and burning up in the atmosphere, but it didn't stop Amber from looking.

As he had thought, hanging out with Amber just made him feel worse about leaving. Every minute he spent looking for stars with her felt like it added a pound of weight to his chest. What made the feeling even worse was what he found out in the time they'd been hunting. No, it wasn't about stars, nor Amber—although they had learned surprisingly a lot about each other in two hours. It was that he noticed, in the basket, there was a paper bag dedicated for trash. It wasn't empty, and Amber had not put a finger on the basket the whole time they were together. He knew Amber didn't have this basket in the morning or after lunch, which meant that she only got it after classes. The only way that there would be trash in the paper bag was if Amber had already eaten—judging from the volume, she had eaten quite a bit. He realised that Amber had been waiting for him here, even before she went looking for him. That plus the fact that it's not an exaggeration that he had been in the library a long time—well, who wouldn't feel bad. _The_ Amber, Princess of Enchancia, trusted him enough to wait for him _and_ on top of that she looked for wishing stars she barely believed in for his sake. Amber said she didn't want an apology earlier, but Desmond wanted to do something at least.

"Come on, I just saw one last night, show me another!"

He knew there wouldn't be any. He looked at Amber's frustrated, yet hopeful expression; her brows were furrowed, and hands clenched on the blanket over her legs. He had a thought—if he was going to leave either way, his friends might as well be smiling if there was something he could do about it.

"Hey Amber," Desmond said.

"Hnn?"

"Remember that book you borrowed for me?"

"What about it?" she asked, eyes still on the skies.

"There's this spell that summons wishing stars—but it only works once, and only a small percentage of people could use it, the best people in the world. Want to try if it works for you?" he lied—a white one in his eyes.

"There's magic like that? Why not, can't hurt to try, could it?"

"Then close your eyes, imagine a shooting star, and repeat after me," said Desmond, reaching into his coat's inner pocket, where he keeps his school wand. What was in the book wasn't a one-time-use summoning spell, it was an show spell that creates an illusion so that people reading could see what a magical shooting star actually looked like—it was a reading aid, if you will. After having Amber say some made up Latin-sounding phrases, he whispered the real spell into his wand and quickly hid it afterwards.

"There! Look!" he said, pointing at his handiwork.

"Where?" shot Amber. When she opened her eyes she was greeted by a glittering streak in the sky. It was different from the ordinary shooting star Amber saw last night. It was in cool shades of purple, blue, and white, and made a sparkling trail of dust surrounded by spiralling lines of pink and yellow.

She then hurriedly clapped her hands in a praying position and shut her eyes again earnestly. "Quick! Make a wish!" she exclaimed, "I wish Desmond didn't have to leave Royal Prep."

"Amber…"

"There! If they do grant wishes to anyone, then it's me."

"Wait, why didn't I just wish that I could use the spell an unlimited amount of times? What a waste! But we did it!" she added laughing at herself.

Desmond did it to at least make Amber smile; it was supposed to be _for her_ —but now that he had done it, it felt like he had gotten more out of it than Amber. He couldn't help having his spirits lifted even while knowing that he would still have to leave the next day; in contrast to earlier, he couldn't stop smiling now. Amber was contagious, and it got to him—he couldn't get the image of Amber beaming and being so sincerely happy after "summoning" a star and making a wish. It was a sight too bright; he wondered it was really alright for him to have seen her like that.

Now that it's over with, Amber had another look at meteor, "I-It's beautiful, isn't it? It's not like anything I've ever seen."

"Y-yeah, I've never seen anything prettier," he blushed.

oOo

The truth is shooting stars do grant wishes—the magical ones at least. Early the next morning, a letter arrived from Desmond's aunt's announcing her pregnancy. Desmond was here to stay. This wasn't a miracle granted by a magical shooting star, though, it was merely a crazy happenstance. But, of course, perspective is everything: to Desmond and especially Amber, their wish hunting would be a special memory, that marked a significant turning point, in a friendship that would last forever.


	7. Shuffle

**AN:** I totally forgot to upload this... this was written last year. Thanks so much, trueGeek for being an awesome betareader and giving me pointers! I'm sorry I haven't written another chapter yet. I'll be sure to come back to Desmond and Amber soon.

* * *

Shuffle

It wasn't long after getting over the surprise that Desmond was going to stay that Amber resumed meddling in Desmond's social life. She made Desmond a regular at her usual lunch table. It was a slow process—Desmond tended to keep to himself and barely talked to anyone. To Amber, his behaviour didn't make any sense; but, apparently, just because someone's in the group, it doesn't mean that he's in the group. It took a few weeks and a lot of effort, but she was able to make Desmond's presence natural for everyone on her table. In two months, he reached the point where he voluntarily participated in conversations.

oOo

"Another shuffle," James sighed. "Why can't we just have the same seat mate for the whole year?"

It was the beginning of a new month, which meant that seating arrangements were going to be changed. The system Fauna employed to shuffle the seating arrangement was simple. She would would arrive with her hat in hand wherein she had placed strips of paper beforehand. Every strip of paper had written on it a letter-number pair that corresponded to a seat in the class. She would then call her students at random to draw a strip from her hat until everyone was seated. It had been that way for as long as the children could remember, and they wouldn't expect it to change. As such, they already knew to wait outside the classroom for their homeroom teacher whenever it was time to change the seating arrangement, which always result in a noisy morning with the chatter of students filling the hallways.

"There are 18 seats out of 24 that aren't in the back row. I should have a 75% chance of avoiding the back row—a chance that decreases with every subsequent draw. I must get the first one," thought Amber aloud.

"We're going to be called at random. The chances you'll be called first are pretty slim, Amber," stated James.

"I have my ways," pouted Amber, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but having ways doesn't necessarily mean they're effective, though," mumbled James.

Amber never liked being seated at the back. She found it demeaning. Being seated at the back meant that she wouldn't get as much attention. Her teachers typically picked the first one they see raising his hand to answer a question, and it was obvious that people in front had the upper hand. She'd also be farthest from the board and the teacher—the people in front of her would get a better view of things than she would, she'd be unjustifiably disadvantaged. Worst of all, she'd be the last one to get material. Every class that passed material for an activity—be it sorcery, alchemy, or even just plain math—it did so from where the teacher was, going towards the back. Guess where the teacher usually was? She'd be getting leftovers! She had been lucky enough to have only experienced being seated on the far end of the classroom a total of three times in all her years at RP. Her last seat placement was a special case—the dreaded back corner seat. As if the back row wasn't bad enough, the back corners were even worse. It had every curse of being a seat in the back row, but multiplied twofold. After having experienced the worst, Amber realised she had been taking her great luck of practically always being in front for granted.

The tables were arranged in three columns and four rows, with each table having a two-student capacity. This set up yielded 6 seats every row. The best two were front and center. She knew it was highly unlikely to get both the first draw and one of the two best seats, she'd settle for any seat as long as it wasn't in the back row.

"Don't worry, the odds aren't that bad. It's still a 50% chance of avoiding the back row even if half the class got good seats before it was your turn to draw," said Sofia in an attempt to reassure her.

"That situation is highly unlikely though. Your premise was that Amber would have a 50% chance of getting a "good" seat even with half the class getting one before her. Getting the total product of all the chances of getting a good seat until the thirteenth draw, assuming that every draw was a good draw, and subtracting this product from 100%, we'd get the likelihood of a bad seat appearing within 13 draws. There's a 99.7% chance that there would be bad seats in 13 trials."

"You're not helping, Desmond," Amber groaned.

Trying to be a bit more comforting, Desmond continued, "A better analysis would be constructing a probability distribution for the chances of getting a good seat assuming every draw preceding was also "good." Taking the sum of probabilities in the distribution until the thirteenth draw would yield the average number of good seats we could expect to appear in a series of 13 trials. That's about 8 good draws out of 13—meaning, if you get your turn to draw within the first 13, you'd have about a 62% chance of getting a good seat! It's better than 50%!" explained Desmond excitedly. He had a quick scan of the Enchancian trio's faces, stopping to see if they had any questions, as if emulating a teacher. For a moment, Amber felt an ounce of relief, which faded as quickly as it came the moment Desmond resumed talking. "You'd have to be really unlucky to get a back row seat, especially if you're one of the first to draw. You don't have to worry about a repeat of last month. Getting a back corner at the third draw—it was an 8.7% chance of a back corner within 3 draws. You were seriously exteremely unlucky."

She glared at Desmond, "Again, not helping."

"Uh…" Desmond hummed nervously, looking for a way to appease the situation. "Sorry," he apologised.

Fauna arrived shortly after, with hat in hand, as expected.

"Settle down, children,' said Fauna. After clearing her throat, she announced the start of the drawing.

Amber's heart thumped wildly as she crossed her fingers and anticipated the first name Fauna would call. She had made sure that she was right in front of Fauna so that she'd be more likely to be called first.

And, as pure coincidence would have it, Fauna said, "How about you go first, Princess Amber."

"Yes!" Amber jumped excitedly. She had the best-case, 75% chance. She put her hand in the hat and drew a strip of paper. Amber anxiously straightened the strip to read what had been written. Her heart sank. "D-5," it said. It wasn't the corner seat, but it was the one immediately beside it—it might as well have been a corner seat. Amber wanted to protest, but she couldn't. The result was fair enough. She dejectedly made her way inside the classroom and settled on her new seat. There couldn't be a silver lining to this, Amber thought. She folded her arms on her table, rested her forehead on them, and closed her eyes, hoping the day would end quickly—the whole month, too, if it wasn't too much to ask.

She heard the bumping and creaking that came with a student settling on their new seat, but not one she heard from her row. Five, Eight, Twelve—great, half of the class done and I'm still probably the only one who got a back row, Amber thought.

Finally, she heard someone set his stuff on her row—more precisely, on the seat with which her's was paired: D-6, one of the two back corner seats.

"There was a 0.02% chance for this string of draws."

The voice was unmistakable; Amber already knew it was Desmond even before getting up.

"For what it's worth," Desmond added, "At least you were luckier than I was."

Amber raised her head and was met with a smile from a standing Desmond. Conversely, Desmond met a frown.

"On the bright side, we'd be more likely to get paired up for a project since we're seat mates now," said Desmond. "'With my brains and your flair, we can't lose!'" he said, copying something he remembered Amber saying some time ago. "N-not that I'm bragging or saying that I'll be a great partner, I-I was just copying what you said before—n-not that I'd expect you to remember since the Enchanted Science Fair was long ago—but I'm not saying you have a short memory-" Desmond rambled in a self-destructing barrage of damage control and conversational backtracking.

"Pfft," Amber sounded, suppressing a giggle.

Desmond blushed in embarrassment as he tried to get seated. Doing so, he accidentally hit his big toe on one of the table's legs causing him to yelp in pain.

Amber couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing, causing Desmond's face to turn even redder than it already had been.

"I-it's not funny," said Desmond, taking Amber's hand as she helped him get up.

"Thanks, that cheered me up," she said, still giggling. She thought that maybe her seat may not be that bad after all.

"You could stop laughing about now, you know."

"I'm not laughing."

"You're smirking," replied Desmond. Amber found the reply inexplicably funny, and for a short moment became unable to hold her composure.

"You laughed!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"


End file.
